Forsaken
by Arashi-No-Shadow
Summary: Toph is raped by Jet and Sokka helps her cope.


**Title- Forsaken**

**Summary- Toph is raped by Jet, and Sokka helps her cope.**

**Rating-M**

**Pairing- Sokkoph**

**Avatar the Last Airbender**

**A/N- random yes I know, and I'm sorry. **

The ground shook with small tremors of power, the entirety of camp splitting nearly down the middle. Sokka was out of his tent, rubbing his eyes groggily along with Katara and Aang. A piercing scream split the air as the bending caused the chasm in the ground to begin to crumble at the sides.

Sokka perked up immediately and looked around for Toph, noticing that her earth tent wasn't erected as usual. He looked around as another scream, this one more panicked rebounded through the trees around them, and finally the shaking and rumbling stopped.

Sokka took a leap over the three foot wide crack in the ground before running quickly in the direction of the last scream. He didn't notice that the branches of the trees were whipping him, or that the ground was uneven and soggy in places, he was set upon finding Toph. He could hear the others behind him, but chose to ignore their presence as he saw a small patch of light green that didn't match any part of the forest around it.

He stopped and moved closer to it, seeing Toph laying on the ground, her shirt torn, and her pants pulled down around her knees. He grit his teeth against the anger that boiled up inside of him, and knelt beside her, fixing her clothing as best he could in their tattered state. He hooked his fingers on her chin and turned her head up toward him. Her eyes were closed and she had a slightly pained, but still peaceful expression on her face he leaned in closer to check her breathing.

The breaths were strained and shallow, but definitely there. Once he checked that he looked around for a moment, noticing a small nick on the tree above Toph. He ignored it at first, but when his velvet ice blue eyes passed over it again, he saw that the shape was deliberate. He shifted forward, leaning over Toph slightly to see a small 'J' carved into the tree. He frowned before shaking his head, he'd think about it later.

He picked Toph up, her small but still slightly heavy body bundled in his arms. He fixed her torn shirt once more with a bit of difficulty before heading back toward camp. He saw Katara and Aang in the trees off to the left and sighed.

"Katara!" he called. "I need you over here!"

There was the sound of waterbending and the trees in front of them fell over, cut right through with a waterwhip. Katara was at his side the instant she saw Toph, checking her over visually before opening small vial of spirit water.

"What happened?" she questioned.

"I don't know." Sokka replied truthfully.

He watched as her hands glowed with a soft blue light as she concentrated on the girl her older brother held. After a few minutes, Toph began to stir before her eyes opened completely. She took in a breath before it seemed that the memories came flooding back. She curled into herself for a moment before her arms shot out and wrapped around Sokka who let out a slight sound of surprise.

"Toph, what happened?" Katara questioned in a soft voice.

Toph shook her head before burying her face in the crook of Sokka's shoulder. Sokka held her tightly, refusing to let her go.

Aang reached out hesitantly and Sokka took a step back. "That might not be a good idea." he said in an abnormally soft voice. Aang looked hurt, but he didn't bother to try again.

Sokka didn't want anyone touching Toph, not only because he was sure that she'd just been raped, but also because she was crying, and he was sure she didn't want the others knowing that.

There were very few words exchanged on the way back to camp, what words were said were by Sokka, and they were almost all aimed at Toph. Katara watched her brother as he walked next to her, his arms wrapped around the small girl that clung to him as if he was a lifeline. She'd never seen him speak softer or with more gentle tenderness than in those moments. She wasn't sure for herself what had happened to the girl, but what she did know was that Sokka had a very good idea.

Once back to camp Sokka brought Toph into his tent, tying it closed without a word. Katara stood dumbfounded outside the entrance, wondering what he thought he was doing. Inside Sokka pried the earthbender off of himself, making her lay back onto the makeshift bed he had. Toph reached for him when her back touched the fluffy fabric of his sleeping bag, but he just took her hand, squeezing softly.

"Trust me Toph." he said. "Please, just this once."

She closed her already blinded eyes and turned away from him. "Okay." it was the first word she had said since the incident, and it was the word that meant the most.

Sokka's hands slowly slid over her arms so she was sure what he was going to do. He knew that she was aware that he had to look her over, but he still spoke to her. "Toph, I have to check for wounds." he said.

She nodded and stiffened slightly when his fingers brushed over the bared skin of her stomach that could be seen through the raggedly torn fabric of her shirt. He pushed the green fibers aside and looked over her marred, yet still so soft and pale skin. He took in a short breath at the sight that met his eyes. There were cuts, bruises and scrapes, as well as a few bites, but even worse than that was where it seemed like a blade had drug it's way down over her chest, narrowly missing one of the rosy peaks to slice it's curving path down to the bottom of her ribcage on her right hand side.

He closed his eyes for a moment, burying the rage and disgust deep inside before continuing with what he was doing. Not wanting to surprise the young girl, and maybe get kicked through the fabric wall of the tent, Sokka's hands moved down to the widened hem of her pant-legs, pulling them up and over her knees slowly. He could see the defined impressions of hands on her pale skin, just above her knees, and without thinking, he placed one of his own hands over one of the bruises, frowning as he saw that the print was just slightly smaller than his. He felt Toph stiffen and heard her fingers begin to drag through the rock and let go quickly, pulling her pant pegs down.

"What's the damage Sokka?" the voice was soft, and for a moment he couldn't believe that it had actually come from the young earthbender.

"Toph, Katara might have to-" he was cut off as Toph sat up, her small hand curling into his shirt, pulling him forward forcefully.

"Sugarqueen will never know about this, neither will twinkletoes." she hissed.

"Toph, please, you're really hurt, you need medical attention." Sokka said.

Toph's fist released him just before the flat of her palm connected with the center of his chest, pushing him back and onto the ground. "No." her voice was firm even though her expression was shadowed with pain and grief.

Sokka sighed, shaking his head with disbelief. "well then will you at least let me help you?"

"What can you do for me?" Toph questioned with malice. "you're just like him."

Sokka was on his feet in an instant, one of his hands raising slightly before he realized what he was doing and let out a shuddering breath. "I'm nothing like him, whoever he might be." he said. "I would never do something like this."

He turned and began untying the leather strings holding the tent flap closed.

"Where are you going?" Toph demanded.

"I'm going to find a plant that I know grows around here, it'll help you heal." he replied before exiting the tent.

Katara rushed over to him as he leaned down to retie the tent, worry etched into every contour of her pretty face. "What's wrong? What happened? Did she tell you?"

Sokka stood straight, looking down at his little sister. "I'll be back soon, leave her alone, she doesn't want to talk to you." he said before he began walking away, adjusting his sword on his side just before he was swallowed by the darkened forest.

Aang moved toward Katara, taking her hand and leading her- with little difficulty- back to the campfire. That's where they were when Sokka returned, covered in blood, looking like he'd gone through hell and back.

-

Sokka wandered around looking for the plant as he had promised. The moon tonight held no love for him, her usually shining face was dampened and darkened with the shadows that seemed to be strewn about the entire world. He found the plant in a small crack in a rock wall and scratched up his hands pretty bad trying to reach in and grab it. Once he had it he brought it into the moonlight, even though the stem had been severed and thus, little life remained in the plant, its petals opened and a shining orb was uncovered. Sokka nodded to himself and cut the flowering part of the plant off, putting it into the bag he carried. He was on his way back to camp when he heard the sound of another fire crackling. It was much too close to be from the Gaang's camp, so he shifted his course just slightly, seeing the bright orange and yellow flames that made the shadows dance and twist with glee. He stopped just before he reached the edge of the trees, listening to the two people who sat at the fire.

One leaned back with a chuckle. "It was good alright. She fought, no doubt, and I swore that she'd make the ground swallow us both, but she was the best I've ever had."

There was another chuckle from someone else, and another voice joined the first. "Was she tight, or do you think she's actually the whore everyone says she is?"

"She fit like a glove..."

The rest of the conversation was lost to the water-tribesman as his teeth grit together and he stood silently. He definitely recognized one of the voices, and he hated the owner, now more than ever. Not only was that slimy bastard a murderer, but he was a rapist too.

He unsheathed his sword and with one long, arching horizontal swing, the vines and branches all dropped into a small pile at his feet. He stood still as the two figures got to their feet, his icy blue eyes frozen and flashing like the ocean waves their colour originated from. His face was completely emotionless, and although he knew that he could have turned away and went back to camp, he also knew that Toph would never forgive him if she knew he had turned down a chance to get her revenge for her. He brought his blade up slowly, shifting his stance so he lowered his center of gravity, and thus gained balance. One of the two figures, the larger one drew a weapon, what looked like a crude club of some kind, and rushed at him.

Sokka waited, his legs telling him to move while his brain told him to hold still for just another moment. At the last second, just as his adversary was raising their weapon to lash out at him, he sidestepped, the blade of his sword dragging over fabric and flesh. Once he finished the step, he pulled his outermost hand toward himself, placing more pressure on the tip of the blade, making it cut deeper. There was a muted thud and the sound of something dripping profusely before Sokka stood straight, pulling the sword toward himself, and flicking it toward the ground, splattering the dried leaves with blood. He stood, watching the second silhouette as they seemingly stared at their nearly downed ally. Another thud signaled that the ally had finally dropped to the ground, the exact place where dirt belonged.

There was a slight sound and the second person unsheathed two swords, holding them out with implied precision. Sokka raised his own sword, seeing the blood dripping sluggishly over the light coloured metal. He nodded slightly, and there was the sound of running feet, before the grating sound of metal rubbing on metal was heard. Sokka spun his arms in a wide arch, seeing one of the swords go flying as his own weapon hooked onto it, ripping it from a tight grip to fling it toward the trees. He let out a breath as pain seared through his side and jumped back, leaning over slightly as he placed his hand over the wound. Seeing blood dripping from his hand only infuriated him more, and he swung his sword again and again, sometimes cutting clothing, sometimes skin, other times, he missed completely. By the end of his lash out, both of them stood a few steps apart, breathing irratically and bleeding heavily. Sokka reached up, one hand closing over his shoulder where the deepest wound he had was. He could feel the blood pouring from the wound and he knew that he had to win this soon, or he would probably bleed to death before reaching camp. He waited as his opponent rushed at him, but this time he didn't step aside, instead he stepped forward, bringing his sword up to plunge it through the center of the figure. He felt pain as well, but it was nothing to what the other felt. He looked down for a moment to see the damage on himself before looking back up into dark brown, almost black eyes. Even moments before death the face he saw still held an arrogant smirk. He pulled back, extracting his sword blade from the depths of the other boy's stomach.

"I- was hoping... You would, come here." he said.

Sokka nodded. "You were right to hope then." he said.

There was a pained laugh. "I didn't- think... It would... End- this way."

"You were wrong." Sokka replied. "Any last words?"

"Your whore... Was great."

"Wrong again Jet." Sokka hissed. "She was a virgin."

With that, he swung his sword once more in a wide arch, closing his eyes as blood spattered over his face. He opened them after a moment to see the surprise and pain on Jet's face as blood ran down his front, pooling on the dusty ground at his feet. After a moment, his knees gave way and he fell, face first onto the ground, into his own blood.

Sokka turned slowly, sheathing his sword and starting back toward camp. It wasn't far, but it was far enough to make his heart beat just fast enough that each step, each breath and expression hurt. He heard the fire before he saw it, and was quite relieved when he broke through the edge of the forest and into camp. Katara shot to her feet, tear tracks streaked over her face, and a wild, yet depressed look in her eyes.

"Sokka?!"

He looked up moments before the blackness that had been edging his vision finally began closing in as he lost what little consciousness he had.

-

When Sokka awoke later, it was still dark and there was no pain, only a painful memory. He let out a breath and tried to sit up, only to realize that there was something over his chest, holding him down. He reached up slowly, searching for what he couldn't see, frowning as his fingers brushed softly over the bared skin of someone's arm. He figured out where they would be laying when he found their hand, and turned his head in the opposite direction their fingertips pointed.

There was a soft sound from that person before a muffled knocking came from outside. Sokka frowned, bringing his free hand up to rub his face slightly. The person next to him began to shift, and he knew that they would be waking soon.

It was so dark inside the tent, and he wanted to know what that knocking sound was, because it was getting louder and more obnoxious as the moments passed. Sitting up, he brought his knees up, and stretched slightly, jumping when he heard a gasp from his side.

"Sokka?"

He frowned as he recognized Toph, and turned in the direction of her voice. "Toph?"

His voice was rough from disuse, and his throat hurt from not drinking anything for a while. "How- how long-"

"Katara says that it's been three days." Toph replied before he could even finish the thought. Her arms wound around him, and before he could think about what he was doing, he returned the embrace. Only after it had been a few moments did he realize that he was holding his best friend like she was his lover, and that the embrace felt right.

"What's that knocking noise?" he questioned.

"That's Sugarqueen." Toph replied. "You might want to close your eyes."

Sokka did as she suggested and shut his eyes tightly, there was the sound that came from an earth tent coming down before light shone brightly through his lids. He turned away, and covered his eyes with a groan.

"Sokka!"

He cringed at the sound of Katara and Aang's voices exclaiming his name at nearly the same instant, and braced for impact as he heard Katara launch herself at him. What surprised him was that the impact never came. He opened his eyes slowly, staring through the haze at Toph who was holding his sister back.

"He just woke up." she hissed. "Let him be for a few minutes."

Katara backed off, but by the way her lower lip quivered and her eyes glazed over, he could see that she was about to start crying. He looked around, realizing that they weren't in the same camp, but he knew that they would have had to move somewhere else, even if he was out of it. He stretched once more and tried to push himself to his feet, only to have Toph on one side and Aang on the other, pulling him up, bearing his weight as he stumbled. He leaned more on Toph than on Aang by accident, and heard her let out a pained breath. It took a moment, but he finally stood on his own, feeling the fatigue begin to wear away.

"I-" he paused for a moment, thinking. "where's my sword?"

Katara held out the weapon, and he took it, unsheathing it to look over the gleaming metal, not one spot of blood remained, and the blade was well waxed and sharpened.

"I cleaned it, and Toph sharpened it, she says it'll cut through anything now." Katara said.

Sokka brushed his thumb over the edge, feeling the sharpness pulling on the grooves and ridges of the pad. He looked down at Toph who was staring at him, but right through him at the same moment. He smiled slightly before deciding that he should focus on his own needs. "Do we have any food?" he questioned. "And water?"

-

It was a few hours after he woke when Sokka found himself kneeling before Toph, rubbing the oil from the somehow, still almost living flower onto her healing wounds. She let out a sigh as the pain began to disperse, and the wounds began to scar almost instantly.

"Is there any more pain?" Sokka questioned.

Toph shook her head. "No." she lied.

Sokka nodded. "Okay, I'll leave you to sleep then." he said before leaving.

That was the first time Toph had 'the dream' about him.

-

Travel was slow for the next few days since two of the four people in the group were still hurt. Toph had taken to sleeping with Sokka in his tent and while it seemed strange, no one questioned it.

There was one night that she was woken by him. His arms had wrapped tightly around her even while his hands wandered slowly over her. She thought for a moment that he was awake, but it seemed that he was sleeping. She reached up, brushing her hand over his face. She found his lips with her thumb and gently traced their outline, closing her eyes as she leaned forward and placed the softest, smallest kiss on his lips. Unfortunately it was enough to wake him up.

He opened his eyes and moved back from her, letting her go. "What was just happening?" he questioned sitting up.

Toph rolled over. "Nothing." came her reply.

Sokka moved toward her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Did you kiss me?"

She curled up in a tighter ball than before, wrapping her arms around herself, refusing to answer. Sokka's hand brushed gently over her shoulder. "It's okay I you did." he said softly. "I know it's all really confusing to you, it's confusing to me too, but I'm not sure if you're over your trauma."

Toph let out a breath and closed her eyes. "I'm not traumatized. I was raped Sokka, it makes sense that I would need you now. You're the only one I can trust."

Sokka paused for a moment. "Well..." he trailed off not sure what to say.

Toph turned over, pushing on his shoulders to make him lay back. He went easily, surprised when she straddled him.

"Toph what are you doing?" he questioned.

She leaned down, placing her fingers over his lips. When he went silent, she moved her hand and pressed her lips to his. He lay still, not sure what to do.

Her mouth moved down over his jaw and the side of his throat before moving back to kiss him again. He placed his hand on her shoulder, pushing her back gently.

"Toph, this is way too soon for you, you're still in pain I can see it." he said softly.

She sat back, still straddling his legs. She picked lightly at her nails, turning her face away from him. He sat up, wrapping his arms around her.

"Look, I think I understand why you want to do this, but you have to trust me when I say that you're not ready." he said.

Toph leaned into his embrace, laying her head on his shoulder. "Would you... If I wasn't still, you know?" she questioned.

Sokka closed his eyes. "Toph, you're my best friend, you're... You mean a lot to me, if you want a relationship I suppose I can give it a chance."

Toph snuggled into his embrace.

**End Chapter One**


End file.
